Collapsible and portable wardrobe having flexible walls and shelves



3 Sheets-Sheet l A. P. KITSON COLLAPSIBLE AND PORTABLE WARDROBE HAVING FLEXIBLE WALLS AND SHELVES Dec. E2,

Filed Feb. 19, 1947 Dec. l2, 1950 A. P. KlTsoN coLLAPsxBLE AND PORTABLE wAEDRoBE HAVING FLEXIBLE wALLs AND sHELvEs 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 19, 1947 Dec. l2, 1950 A. P. Kn'soN COLLAPSIBLE AND PORTABLE WARDROBE HAVING FLEXIBLE WALLS AND SHELVES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 19, 1947 H 7' TORNEY Patented Dec.. l2, 1950 UNI'lED STATES PATENT OFFICE COLLAPSIBLE AND PORTABLE WARDROBE HAVING FLEXIBLE WALLS AND SHELVES Alfred P. Kitsch, United States Army,

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a portable wardrobe, and more particularly to a Wardrobe of exible material, capable of being rolled compactly and of being set up to provide shelves and clothesstorage space.

In the lield, in the course of expeditions or on similar occasions, when camp is made and broken at short intervals, it is desirable to have the use of a wardrobe capable of storing conventional articles of apparel and other personal belongings. A conventional wardrobe does not lend itself to that purpose, as it is heavy, bulky, and liable to break during transport. Luggage of the foldable garment-case or bedding-roll type, pro- .vide's a partial solution te the problem, but is not fully satisfactory as it lacks shelf space for the storage of toilet articles, underwear, and similar articles of small bulk, which thus tend to become scattered in inaccessible places inside the luggage. It has also been proposed to mount canvas shelves on a flexible back and sides, and to provide the device with removable stays so that it can be set up as a shelf cabinet when camp is made, and rolled up in a compact roll When camp is broken; such a device well answers the purpose for which it is designed, but lacks storage space for suits, overcoats, and other large articles of apparel.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a portable wardrobe with both shelf space and clothes-storage space.

Another object of this invention is a portable wardrobe which, when not in use, is rolled up in a compact roll, and when in use is supported by removable supports to provide a semi-rigid structure with shelves and clothes space.

A further object of this invention `is a combined shelf cabinet and clothes compartment, suitable for use in transient, semi-permanent and even permanent camps, being of simple, sturdy and inexpensive construction and presenting an attractive appearance.

These and other objects of my invention will appear more fully from the following description or" a preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the appended drawings.

A portable Wardrobe in accordance with my invention essentially consists of flexible walls .delining a clothes compartment, iiexible sides projecting therefrom, flexible shelves fastened to the sides and to one oi the walls, and removable rigid stays to support the shelves when the wardrobe is set up. The iiexible parts of my wardrobe are so dimensioned that the device can be rolled up compactly when the stays are removed.

A preferred embo-diment of my invention is illustrated in the appended drawings, wherein Fig. l is a front elevation of a portable wardrobe in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a right hand side elevation view co1'- responding t0 Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken through Fig. 1 along lines 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the portable wardrobe illustrated in the preceding iigures;

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation, partly broken away, corresponding to Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a portable Wardrobe in rolled-up condition;

Fig. 7 is a plan View of a blank for a flexible shelf for incorporation in the portable wardrobe according to my invention;

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of a shelf incorporated in a portable wardrobe in accordance with my invention, partly assembled and with supports in place;

Fig. 9 is a section through Fig. 8 along` lines 9--9;

Fig. 10 illustrates in perspective View the arrangement of supports for one of my shelves;

Fig. 1l illustrates in perspective View the arrangement of the supports for my bottom shelf; and

Fig. 12 is a detailed View, in section, of the bottom shelf support of my portable wardrobe and is taken along lines I2--l2 of Fig. 1.

More particularly, reference letter C denotes a rectangular clothes compartment of a length exceeding its width, and of a depth smaller than its width. The front and rear of clothes compartment C are respectively liexible walls l0 and H (rear) of rectangular shape and of waterproofed canvas or similar material. A pair of side walls l2, of the same material, is joined'towalls lil and Il, one of the side walls preferably being provided with al longitudinally extending slide vfastener I3 to permit access to the interior of clothes compartment C. The top wall lll of compartment C preferably includes plywood, leather, or similar material to give the compartment a certain amount of semi-rigidity when set up. A handle VI5 at top M serves as carrying means when the wardrobe is rolled up, and as a means for suspending the wardrobe from above When it iS Set up. vA pair of longitudinal straps f I6, i6 are endwise 'suspended from top i4 and associated with buckles I1, I1 to serve as conventional fastening means when the wardrobe is rolled up. The bottom portion of compartment C is preferably made into a distinct compartment by means of partition I8 between walls I9 and I I, and is provided with a transverse slide fastener I9 to permit ready access thereto; because of its shape and location, it lends itself to use as a container for shoes which are thus beneath and out of contact with clothes suspended inside compartment C by means of a clothes hanger 20 or similar means removably depending from top I4. A wide patch pocket P, accessible through slide fastener 2|, may be joined to front wall i9 near its top.

Each of side walls I2 has an extension or wing W extending beyond the wall I9 of compartment C; the extensions constitute side walls for a shelf cabinet which is an integral part of my wardrobe, and for which wall IE) of compartment C material, each having pockets (which will be described in greater detail hereafter), is joined to side extensions W and wall I9. In order to close the shelf cabinet, I provide a flap closure wall or door 24 which corresponds in size to the open front of the shelf cabinet, and is fastened along a lower portion of each vertical edge to the adjacent side extension W, and Iprovided with a slidefastener runway 25 along its remaining edges, which may be attached to and detached from corresponding portions of the shelf cabinet equipped with a slide-fastener runway 25.

Each shelf 22 is provided with four marginal pockets, a pair of pockets 22' being parallel to wall I0, and the other pair of pockets 22" being normal thereto. Each of pockets 22' houses a rigid stay 26 which, once in place, need not be removed from its pocket even when the wardrobe is rolled up for transportation. Each of pockets 22" is open at the end of the shelf which faces the shelf cabinet closure wall 24, and removable rigid stead of supporting it with a pair of removable :.s.

stays of a length corresponding to the depth of the shelf, as is the case in top and middle shelves 22, bottom shelf 23 is equipped with a pair of transverse permanent stays 2d, 28 in its transverse pockets 23', 23" and with a pair of removable rigid stays 29 of a length corresponding to the combined depth of shelf cabinet and clothes compartment C. A pair of holes is cut in front wall Ill at 39, 3D' to permit passage of removable stays 29, 29', and a transverse brace 3l is mounted on the outside of rear wall II of lclothes compartment C by a leather strip S or similar means, in the plane of bottom shelf 23. Brace 3l is provided with suitable recesses 32, 32' to receive the ends of removable stays 29, 29.

To set up my wardrobe, it is preferably spread out flat on the iloor, or suspended from above by handle I5, and removable stays 21, 21' and 29, 29' are inserted in their pockets below shelves 22, 23. The last-mentioned stays 29, 29' are inserted al1 the way through the clothes compartment until their ends come to rest in recesses 32, 32' of brace 3l on the rear wall I I of clothing compartment C. All removable stays are preferably rabbeted at their ends facing the opening of the shelf compartment, so that transverse stays 26 and 28 may rest on the rabbeted end portions of the removable stays without causing unevenness of the canvas shelves. The stays may -be made of any lightweight, non-deteriorating material possessing suilicient strength for its purpose, such as plywood, solid plastic material, aluminum, etc.

When it is desired to roll up my wardrobe for transportation, the rabbet joints between stays 26 and 21, 21', and between stays 28 and 29, 29', respectively, are released by forcing stays 21, 21 and 29, 29 vertically downwardly, and removable stays 21, 21 and 29, 29' are pulled out of their pockets and preferably placed inside the clothing compartment ID in a manner that will not interfere with the rolling of the wardrobe. My wardrobe is now ready to be rolled up and strapped by means of outside straps IB, IG.;

It will thus be seen that I have provided the art with a dual-purpose item of luggage which is suitable for simultaneous use as a clothes wardrobe and as a shelf cabinet. While my wardrobe is not suitable for the transportation of bulky articles, flexible items, such as a suit, underwear, shirts, a blanket, and similar articles, may be transported in my portable wardrobe.

It is obvious that structural details of the above-described preferred embodiment of my invention are lcapable of modifications in their arrangement, dimensions, or both, without departing from the function of my invention. I thus intend to claim such modifications and equivalents which will readily occur to the expert as within the scope of my invention, and desire to be limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a portable wardrobe, the combination of a luggage compartment comprising a pair of ilexible walls and a pair of flexible sides extending beyond said walls with a plurality of flexible shelves on the outside of said compartment and joined to said sides and to one of said compart ment walls, supporting means for said shelves comprising pairs of rigid stays insertable adjacent the side edges of said shelves, at least one pair of said stays extending through said lastnamed wall and along the sides of said `compartment, means on one of said compartment walls for removably receiving said last-named pair of stays in shelf-supporting and compartment-distending position, and auxiliary means rigidly supporting said shelves in a horizontal plane.

2. In a portable wardrobe, the combination of a luggage compartment comprising a pair of ilexible walls and a pair of flexible sides extending rigid stays insertable adjacent the side edges of said shelves, rigid transverse shelf-supporting means parallel to one of said walls, at least one pair of said stays extending through said lastnamed wall and along the sides of said compartment, and a rigid transverse brace on one of said flexible walls, said brace being apertured for the reception of a pair of said first-named rigid stays.

3. In a portable wardrobe, the combination of a luggage compartment comprising a pair of ilexible walls and a pair of flexible sides extending 5 beyond said Walls with a plurality of flexible REFERENCES CITED shelves on the outside of said fcompartment and The following references are of record in the joined to said sides and to one of said eompartme of this patent: ment walls, and supporting means for said shelves 1 l m l comprising pairs of rigid stays having rabbeted 5 UNHED STAES PATENTS ends and their opposite ends being insertable ad- Number Name Date jacent the side edges of said shelves, at least One 1,728,212 McCollum Sept. 17, 1929 ipair of said stays extending through Said last- 1,834,741@4 Rhett Dec. 1, 1931 named wall and along the sides of said compai't- 1,927,165 Freedman Sept. 19, 1933 ment, means on one oi said compartment wals 10 2,003,100 Arpin May 28, 1935 for removably receiving said last-named pair of 2,154,630 Marbury et a1 Apr. 18, 1939 stays in shelf-supporting and compartment-dis- 2,313,547 Hinson Mar, 9, 1943 tending position, and transverse stays rigidly supporting said shelves in a horizontal plane, said transverse stays being supported by the rabbeted 15 ends of the other stays.

ALFRED P. KI'ISON. 

